SOFT SKIN, THE

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Film synopsis

Following his classic Jules and Jim, Francois Truffaut consolidated his rank as the rising master of French cinema with The Soft Skin (1964), a sometimes neglected but integral film to the Truffaut canon. Starring the gorgeous Francoise Dorlac (Cul-de-sac) – older sister of Catherine Deneuve – in one of her finest roles, this controversial study of love and betrayal follows a famous scholar (Jean Desailly – Le Professionnel) as he becomes infatuated with an airline stewardess during a lecture tour and hopelessly pursues the doomed affair. Famously echoing Truffaut’s own life – he engaged in numerous affairs that caused the breakup of his marriage – the film is expertly carried by stage actor Desailly, who combines charming aloofness with quiet desperation as he falls into a maze of lust and deceit.